How Would I Go About Making A Plastic Product/Mold For Something?

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I've always wondered this because I have 3 really good ideas, and have always wanted to get them made into legitimate plastic products.

One of the products I already made with pieces from home depot, and its basically an aquarium vacuum on steroids. It works in a very cool/innovative way (nothing like you've seen in petsmart before), that I think I could sell to many fish enthusiasts. I've owned fish tanks all my life, and it was developed to avoid many of the common problems that most vaccums suffer from.

But it was made mainly for "engineering" reasons to see if it works, which it does (it actually blew my mind that it worked so well). So my goal is to have it converted into a cleaner looking plastic model. If there was a way to have pieces molded, I could make it a lot smaller and more compact/efficient.

My second and third ideas, would help a lot more people, in a much simpler way, so I'd rather not talk about them tbo.

But my question is I want to learn how to work with plastic. How to make molds, and have custom made parts made up. Does anyone know how to get this done?

Thanks WF! - Red
  • Profile picture of the author dlundy1
    unless you have a butt-Load of Cash To Throw into production. You may wabt to checkout one of the many sites that lets you submit your ideas to hopefully find a Sponsor.

    But If not then You can Just hire a Company to produce the Products For you but You would need to give them exact calculations down to the Degree (You may need to Hire someone else to calculate the Dimensions Of the Product)

    but Long story short... That is A LOT of work for one Single guy... that is more Of a Company thing. But If You don't want to do it the Company way, You'd have to do it the MANUAL way (Very Labor extensive)

    -Hope That Helps.
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  • There are a lot of innovative new ways to do mock-ups - I'm not an expert in any regard at this (wish I was) but I have had to contract in the past for extrusions and fitting models, and it was not as easy as the 3-D scanning they can do now - there is even a 3-D printer you can do mock-ups from a laser scan or computer model...heck, if they can scan a woman and make them a custom pair of jeans, it can't be that difficult anymore...


    And there is also the old fashioned way, clay or plaster mold, depending on how exacting the tolerance of the item is...

    If any Warriors are well versed in these techniques, I would sure like to hear their input as well...
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  • Profile picture of the author Kurt
    Originally Posted by RedShifted View Post

    I've always wondered this because I have 3 really good ideas, and have always wanted to get them made into legitimate plastic products.

    One of the products I already made with pieces from home depot, and its basically an aquarium vacuum on steroids. It works in a very cool/innovative way (nothing like you've seen in petsmart before), that I think I could sell to many fish enthusiasts. I've owned fish tanks all my life, and it was developed to avoid many of the common problems that most vaccums suffer from.

    But it was made mainly for "engineering" reasons to see if it works, which it does (it actually blew my mind that it worked so well). So my goal is to have it converted into a cleaner looking plastic model. If there was a way to have pieces molded, I could make it a lot smaller and more compact/efficient.

    My second and third ideas, would help a lot more people, in a much simpler way, so I'd rather not talk about them tbo.

    But my question is I want to learn how to work with plastic. How to make molds, and have custom made parts made up. Does anyone know how to get this done?

    Thanks WF! - Red
    I have a small section on my ShySky.com site that can get you started in your research:
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    After you check this out, visit Youtube for more info...

    BTW, non of the links on that page to the materials are affiliate links. They are there simply for the readers' convenience and to get more info about relevant products.
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  • Profile picture of the author I.M.Retired
    I have been making silicone and latex molds and doing plaster casting for years.

    Smooth-on has some excellent products and tutorials.

    Smooth-On, Inc. - Mold Making & Casting Materials Rubber, Plastic, Lifecasting, and More

    They also have lots of tutorials on youtube. Just search for mold making, plaster casting, aluminum casting or whatever type of material you want to make your product out of.

    Here is Smooth-On's section on making prototypes:

    Prototype Development, TASK Prototyping Plastics from Smooth-On

    It sounds like once you get your prototype made you will probably need to get them produced by some form of injection or vacuum molding.

    Smooth-on has lots of products and information here:

    EpoxAcast® 655 Aluminum-Filled Epoxy Resin Product Information

    Another company with lots of info and good products:

    Mold Star® 15 Demo: Easy Use, High Tear Strength Platinum Silicone

    Information for creators of new products:

    InventionHome.com - Helping Inventors Patent, Protect, Market and License Inventions for Royalties

    Some ideas on making prototypes with different materials:

    http://ideasuploaded.com/how-to-make...otype-cheaply/

    http://www.smallstuff.ch/sculpting/t...and-tutorials/
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  • Profile picture of the author RedShifted
    You guys are awesome I can't thank you enough!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
    You could into 3D printing:

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    Project HERE.

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  • TB - The Video has been Mockblocked in the US
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    • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
      Originally Posted by MoneyMagnetMagnate View Post

      TB - The Video has been Mockblocked in the US
      They're blocking US viewers? Are you serious?

      Canadians get US contents blocked all the time. It is really annoying.

      Can you see this:

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      Project HERE.

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  • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
    Signature

    Project HERE.

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  • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
    I nearly started a printing company some years back, for printing onto 3D objects (vs printing the actual objects that new machines are doing!). Sure glad I didn't. Apart from the disappearing manufacturing base in North America and jobs being outsourced to China, the technology we would have used would have quickly become obsolete!
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    Project HERE.

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  • I just saw this one...A 3D Handheld Scanner - tweek!

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  • Profile picture of the author Always-A-Warrior
    Yup! 3D Printing is exploding into the market and soon will be in homes as they introduce Home 3D Printers. Can you imagine making your own kitchen utensils or creating an appliance part right there in your home?. It's coming. Say goodbye, "Made In China".

    Company's like ShapeWays, Objet, Makerbot, etc. is bringing it hard. They just had their 3D Printshow Expo. Watch next years as lots of new products will hit the market.

    3D Printin is becoming a BILLION DOLLAR business real soon.

    I'm thinking of buying my own 3D Printing machine. It costs around $1500-$2500 and hopefully the price drops next year as it becomes more available to the public. Cant wait.

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    • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
      Originally Posted by Always-A-Warrior View Post

      <snip>

      3D Printin is becoming a BILLION DOLLAR business real soon.<snip>
      Definitely! There'll be a huge array of spin-off industries clustering around 3D printers, eg selling designs.

      Originally Posted by Always-A-Warrior View Post

      <snip>

      I'm thinking of buying my own 3D Printing machine. It costs around $1500-$2500 and hopefully the price drops next year as it becomes more available to the public. Cant wait.

      I'll buy one too, in the not too distant future. You could probably get a return on your investment pretty quickly on one of these devices before they're widely available.
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      Project HERE.

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